For the past 6 months I've felt the call of Cult Beauty, mainly due to the fact they stock most of the luxury brands I love, think Charlotte Tilbury, Sunday Riley to name but a few, and now they cater for all budgets with brands such as NYX, The Ordinary and Zoeva. So good!
Basically, Cult Beauty is my beauty haven.
So recently I decided to place a totally impromptu order with my favourite more budget-friendly brands to try out a few products that have been on my wishlist for a while, along with some new finds, obviously!
The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% in Squalane £7.80
For the past year I've been slowly making my way through The Ordinary, trying so many amazing products that are just so affordable (find my top 10 product from them HERE!). After trying many chemical exfoliators from the brand along with quite a few serums I decided it was time I tried my first ever Retinol/Retinoid product. Now I will admit I'm still pretty clueless about retinol products but I know that in a nutshell they speed up the production of skin cells making it an amazing anti-ageing product that everyone should be getting on as they start to age. As I'm approaching 30 (I'm still not ready for it) I thought it would be the ideal time to incorporate a retinoid into my night time skincare routine and start with a highly rated low-priced product rather than something more expensive - because they can get pricey.
Of course, I can't give my opinions on this just yet but hopefully this will be 'the one' as I've heard only good things and it's a product often recommended by skincare experts as a good entry level retinoid product!
NYX HD Eye Shadow Base £6.00
Next, I wanted to pick up a new eyeshadow primer as I can't say I've used one in many years after running out of my last Urban Decay Primer Potion. Although I now prefer to use a cream eyeshadow bases or will simply dust my lids with translucent powder before applying eyeshadow I think for longlasting results you can't beat a good eyeshadow primer. I was torn between trying out this one and one from Zoeva, also on Cult Beauty, but in the end I decided to do with this one due to the easy doe foot applicator and the fact I've always been happy with NYX products. With a light natural tone that blends out and a formula that looks like a lighter version of the cult UD Primer Potion, I've got my fingers crossed I will love this product! I will let you know how I get on with it.
3 Concept Eyes Pore Silky Balm £10.00
Another primer type product I picked up was this interesting pore balm from South Korean beauty brand, 3 Concept Eyes. Although a total impulse purchase I've become such a fan of Korean skincare and base products in the past year and have previously read about pore balms, which aren't really a thing here in the UK. But thankfully Cult Beauty stock quite a number of Korean beauty and skincare brands so I was able to pick this up at a pretty affordable price. The waxy feeling balm comes in a metal tin with both a spatula and a latex feel sponge, the latter being for a mattifying effect over makeup and the former being a way of concealing and diffusing the look of pores under makeup. This isn't a product I would use daily as I imagine it could lead to blocked pore/breakouts as it's a pretty industrial seeming product but for days when I feel like my pores are more oily or noticeable or I simply want my skin to look its best, I will be using this.
On the few times using this balm I've been impressed! Mainly applying a small amount to the sides of my nose where I have a few damaged and enlarged pores, my skin feels instantly silky and I can see a noticeable difference before with both bare skin and makeup applied. If you have pores you really don't like and want to cover them in a more heavy duty way then this may just be the product for you!
Bleach London Powder Brush P002 £6.00
As Bleach London is now another brand Cult Beauty stock I decided to try out my first ever makeup brush from them. All of their brushes are affordable and I particularly liked the look of their buffing brushes. However, I decided to only buy what I needed, which was a new large fan brush. I'm not too sure if I love the streak of black through the middle of the brush, it seems pretty pointless to me and it does remind me of a skunk, slightly! But other than that this brush can't be faulted for the price as it's just so soft and feels really nice quality all round. This will be replacing my previous worn out fan brush which I use to dust a little matte bronzer down my neck and chest, which is something I can't do without when applying my makeup as it ensures my face never appears a shade or two darker than my chest. This also could be used to highlight the limbs or as a large powder brush.
Davines Oi All In One Milk £13.80 (for smaller 50ml size)
Lastly, with my trusted MorrocanOil running out just last week I decided to bite the bullet and try something new! This is a big step for me, okay... I'm being slightly dramatic, as I've been using Morrocanoil for the past 5 years and rely on it for silky smooth hair. But for some reason I decided it was time for a change. Named as the 'all in one' this is a hair treatment that offers a lot, from adding shine, promoting softness, eradicating tangles, minimising frizz, enhancing volume and increasing the longevity of your chosen style! Sounds like a wonder product, doesn't it? Which is why I don't mind paying over £10 for such a small size and hopefully purchasing the bigger size if I like it.
I have only used this once so far so I can only give my initial impressions, which are good! It definitely volumised my hair while also taming frizz which really did impress me... you don't get many products that can do that, and my hair did stay perfectly straight all day so the claims of it holding your style may be true. This is a product I will make sure to update you on as I think it could be a bit of a gem.
Let me know if anything caught your eye here!
Fee xo.